The Captain's Golf Course: Setting the tone for great golf on Cape Cod

The Par 3 second hole on the Starboard Course plays challenging 162 yards from the blue tees.

Greetings from Cape Cod.

If there's one thing you can count on while visiting the Cape, it's all the great golf courses there are to play.

And one of the best courses to play on Cape Cod is The Captains located in Brewster, Massachusetts.

The first thing you notice about The Captains is what great shape the golf course is in. There are two 18 hole layouts that make up the golf course, and despite the large volume of play this public golf course gets, the conditions the day I played were immaculate.

From the tee boxes to the fairways and greens, the golf course was in pristine condition. My only complaint playing the course was the texture of the sand in the sand traps. It was softer than my liking, and made an already true test of your golf game even tougher.

The Captains Golf Course is actually two 18 hole layouts in one. There's The Port Course, a par 72 that plays just over 6700 yards from the blue tees, and just over 6000 yards from the white tees.

And there is also the Starboard Course that some consider a bit more of a test of your golf game. Like the Port Course, the Starboard is also a par 72, and plays close to 6800 yards from the blue tees, and 6200 from the white tees.

My playing partners for my day on the Starboard Course were Adil Karamali, a cardiologist from Toledo, Ohio, his brother-in-law John Courville from Denver, Colorado, and Jason Andrew, a plastics engineer from Hamden, Connecticut. Handicaps in the group ranged from 12 to 30. Adil, John, and I decided to play the blue tees, Jason, the 30 handicapper was forced to come along for the ride.

The Starboard course starts off with a straight away Par 4 that measures 376 yards from the blue tees. A tee shot in the fairway sets up a typical approach shot, and two routine putts later you can easily walk away with a score of 4.

The second hole is the one that Mark O'Brien, Director of Golf Operation at The Captains calls the signature hole on the Starboard side. A picturesque Par 3, the second hole drops in elevation from the tee box to the green.

At 162 yards from the blue tee box, you might want to consider dropping from a six iron to a seven iron. The hole is guarded by four bunkers that make accuracy a must. But even if you don't post your best score here, the views of the hole are tremendous, and remember you're on vacation.

The rest of the front nine requires you to bring your 'A' game to the course. The Par 4 fourth hole measures 451 yards, the Par 3 5th hole 213 yards, all carry with a bailout area to the right. Par on both the fourth and fifth holes will feel like birdies for the middle handicapper

If you manage to survive the fourth and fifth holes, the Par 4 sixth offers a bit of a breather, which gives you just enough confidence to tackle the monster Par 5 seventh hole that measures 533 yards from the blue tees.

Our foresome posted scores ranging from 42 to 54 on the front nine. John Courville, who is originally from Wellsley, told me he grew up playing the Captains on summer vacations spent on Cape Cod. John said The Captains course was just as tough, and just as beautiful as it was when he was growing up.

As for the back nine at The Captains it's really more of the same. The 10th hole is a nearly 90 degree dog leg that measures 371 yards from the blues tee box.

All totaled there are two Par 3 that average just under 200 yards, and five Par 4 holes that average 400 yards. The Par 4 16th hole is a whopping 468 yards from tee to green.

My advice would be to make the Captains course a definite stop on your summer vacation plans to the Cape. But unless you're a single digit handicapper looking to test all of your golfing skill, your best bet is to play the white tees and enjoy the ride.

The Captains course and its reputation preceded itself the day we played. The course was in great shape, was a true test of golf, and the chance to play with three total strangers and enjoy a round of golf made the day extra special.

A bit about The Captains, the course record for the Port side is 66, shot by Don Bell during a New England Pro Tour event in September of 2001. The course record for the Starboard side is a stunning 63 by Brent Wanner. Wanner, a Brewster native who was a standout golfer at Wake Forest.